4.2. Study Group Characteristics

Thirteen volunteers, healthy men who had previously practiced starvation diet (for 3–42 d) participated in the study. The number of fasts previously held by the individual respondents ranged from 3 to 12. Each participant avoided starvation in the 6 months before the study. All participants underwent a medical examination and no contraindications to performing exhausting exercise were found. The subjects stated that they had practiced regular physical activity in the form of moderate-intensity yoga; their level of physical fitness was not controlled by the authors of the study. The inclusion criteria were: (1) previous experience in undertaking CWF of more than three days; (2) age range of 30–70; (3) body weight between 60–100 kg; (4) body mass index—BMI—20–29.9 kg/m²; (5) no chronic diseases; (6) systolic blood pressure in the range of 100–140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure in the range of 60–90 mmHg. The Exclusion criteria were: (1) the presence of chronic diseases; (2) smoking cigarettes; (3) the use of medications, strong stimulants or psychoactive substances; (4) failure to complete the test procedure.

The basic somatic parameters of the participants are summarized in Table 1.